The Jacksonville Jaguars have long been rumored to move out of northeast Florida, so the team’s stadium will undergo major renovations in order to keep them at TIAA Bank Field.
The irony of it all is that the renovations will be so large that they could force the team to play their home games elsewhere for two years anyway.
Mayor Lenny Curry said the renovations will likely happen during the 2025 and 2026 seasons, placing the Jags in a temporary home.
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A general view of the Jacksonville Jaguars statue in front TIAA Bank Field prior to the AFC Wild Card Playoffs game against the Los Angeles Chargers at TIAA Bank Field on January 14, 2023, in Jacksonville, Florida. (Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
“The goal would be to play somewhere in Jacksonville,” he said. “Those discussions are happening, but two years is the goal,” Curry told 1010XL. “I do know that they are considering certain sites that are local that could accommodate them for at least two years.”
But when it’s all said and done, Curry says TIAA Bank Field will feel like a “brand-new stadium.”
The Jaguars’ lease for the city-owned stadium runs through the 2029 season.
Jacksonville will play two games overseas next year in back-to-back weeks.
Trevor Lawrence #16 of the Jacksonville Jaguars celebrates with Christian Kirk #13 of the Jacksonville Jaguars after Kirk’s receiving touchdown during the second quarter against the Tennessee Titans at TIAA Bank Field on January 7, 2023, in Jacksonville, Florida. (Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
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Most recently, the Los Angeles Chargers played three seasons at Dignity Health Sports Park following their exit from San Diego to Los Angeles, and the Rams played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum while SoFi Stadium was being built. The Minnesota Vikings also played two seasons at the University of Minnesota following the closure of the Metrodome while U.S. Bank Stadium was under construction.
The New York Yankees played the 1974 and 1975 seasons at Shea Stadium, the home of intra-city rival Mets, while the old Yankee Stadium was undergoing renovations – they returned in 1976 and played their until opening their current ballpark in 2009.
Curry also noted that the renovations would force the annual Florida-Georgia game played there to be moved, likely at each team’s respective stadiums, for the time frame, something that has not happened since 1994 and 1995 and hadn’t happened since 1931 and 1932.
A general view before the start of a game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida Gators at TIAA Bank Field on October 29, 2022, in Jacksonville, Florida. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)
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The next-largest stadium in Jacksonville is Hodges Stadium at the University of North Florida, which has had capacities as high as 12,000 yet only seats 9,400.
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